Board game:The 400 Game

Late 19th and early 20th century board games reflected classic literature, children's nursery rhymes, sport, and popular culture, to name only a few subjects. The last category characterizes J.H. Singer's "The 400 Game," based on the supposed number of guests who fit into Mrs. William Astor Jr.'s ballroom in the late 19th century. In actuality, New York society arbiter Samuel Ward McAllister fixed on the number, along with Mrs. Astor, to help keep the "old money" bastion of New York society in place until the 1890s. The game-buying public, it appears, took interest.